Saturday, May 7, 2016

This Week (Spinach, Enchiladas, and Another Thru-Hike)

I know I keep taking pictures of my spinach, but... it's so pretty!

You guys, it’s still spring. It started being spring back in March, and it’s still being spring. I mean, we’re getting some hot weather, but it’s still not humid and I’m still not dying of heat stroke. What city do I even live in?! I don’t know how the handle the awesomeness of a spring that actually lasts more than two weeks.

Anyway! It’s been a busy week, but in a good way: full of camping, editing (I’m almost done teaching this semester!) and hanging out with friends and family. Zach and I also celebrated Cinco de Mayo in honor of his Mexican heritage (which we just recently learned about— it might explain why he never gets a sunburn) by making enchiladas with mole sauce. I’ve never liked enchiladas, but these were so good! We’ve agreed to make the sauce from scratch next time and see how it turns out.

Zach and I are also preparing for a trip. What trip, you ask? (Drumroll, please.) ...A thru-hike of the Katy Trail! At 237.7 miles, it’s longer than the John Muir Trail... oh yeah, but it’s also perfectly flat, paved with fine gravel, and has a convenience store (and occasionally a winery) every ten miles. So we’re not exactly going to be roughing it. But I’m really excited to do another somewhat long hike and see a cross-section of Missouri’s natural and rural points of interest! We’re hoping to complete it in two weeks, having plotted our course from campground to campground, since you can’t just plop down a tent anywhere along the trail. I’m praying for good weather (preferably with a minimum of tornadoes) and that our feet won’t get killed walking on flat ground for that long.

On the more domestic side of things, our garden is still growing like wildfire. The spinach is sprouting larger leaves than I thought spinach was supposed to grow, and the kale, peas, raspberries, asparagus, peppers, and watermelon seedlings are all flourishing. The lettuce and carrots haven’t sprouted yet, but they should in the next few days.